Specialized, Comprehensive Services

The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation offers comprehensive and age-appropriate mental health services at our child guidance clinic and via at-school or in-home settings. Our specialized mental health services for high-risk youth dates back to 1924 when Wilder Foundation’s Child Guidance Clinic opened as one of the first of such clinics in the country.

The Child Guidance Clinic is nationally recognized as a premier outpatient mental health clinic and is a Community Mental Health Center. One of the few clinics that make up a safety net for mental health services for low-income, uninsured, and underserved populations, the Wilder Foundation has both child psychiatry and advance practice registered nursing services.

We specialize in serving children who have experienced significant trauma and may have very complex mental health needs. The Child Guidance Clinic staff have considerable expertise in diagnosing and treating complex behavioral and emotional disorders in children. In addition, we have developed culturally competent services to address the behavioral health needs of Southeast Asian children and families, a growing segment of the east metro community. We regularly work with very young children that exhibit post-traumatic stress disorder, children and families living in poverty and ethnically diverse clients for whom no other resources exist.

The primary focus of our services is to positively increase the child’s or youth’s functioning across multiple settings in home, school and community.